definitive.

1. Providing a final or authoritative resolution of an issue.

2. Serving as a particularly authoritative or comprehensive account, version or treatment of a subject.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• definitive answer
• definitive ruling

On the page

The preliminary figures could not provide a definitive answer to the causal question.

The ruling was definitive on procedure but left the factual dispute unresolved.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more definitive; superlative most definitive in authoritative/comprehensive usage; avoid grading a strictly final decision. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, qualification. Disciplines: general academic writing. Commonness: moderately common.